TIGERLAND 



move forward, it was decided to attack him with the 

 howdah elephants, aided by the two steady tuskers a 

 fairly dangerous undertaking considering the state of his 

 temper and the practically unassailable position he occu- 

 pied ; but matters were growing serious, and the sun 

 extremely hot. The other two howdahs were accordingly 

 called back, and some of the line elephants being put in 

 their places as stops, the attack was resumed. 



The three howdahs now advanced in a close line, sepa- 

 rated by a tusker, the tiger all this time growling savagely, 

 but remaining invisible, for strangely enough he had 

 suddenly changed his tactics and now refused to charge, 

 thus complicating matters considerably. However, as 

 it was obviously necessary that he should show himself, 

 taking up my shot-gun, I fired it into the jungle. The 

 effect was instantaneous, but scarcely in accordance with 

 my wishes or expectations, for I had hardly resumed my 

 rifle when the tiger, with one mighty bound, sprang fairly 

 on to my elephant's head, and with its fore claws round its 

 ears, and the hind embedded in the trunk, clung there, 

 growling savagely, with ears laid back and lips curled up 

 a striking picture of savage fury ! 



In the meanwhile the elephant, maddened with rage 

 and pain, in its frantic efforts to free himself of the un- 

 welcome burden, nearly dislodged both myself and the 

 mahout. Indeed, I could only maintain my position by 

 squatting down in the howdah. How I contrived to hold 

 on to my rifle as well, and, full-cocked as it was, prevent 

 its going off, is a mystery yet to be solved ; to make any 

 use of it under the circumstances was, of course, quite 

 impossible, and the struggle, if continued, must eventually 

 have resulted in some serious disaster. Fortunately, 

 the elephant, wearied with its efforts, ceased for awhile. 

 Seizing this opportunity, I stood up, and, holding on with 

 one hand, fired my rifle, pistol- wise, full in the tiger's 

 face, now scarcely three feet from my own. To miss 

 at such extremely close quarters was hardly possible, 

 and the tiger, releasing his hold, dropped off stone dead, 

 the bullet having lodged in his brain. 



I had now time to look around me, and, much to my 

 surprise, found that my own elephant and one of the 

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